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LETTER: Beaches less joyful without dogs at play

Dogs too need nature, trees, parks and beaches in order to be healthy, and humans need animals for emotional well-being. Both pets and wildlife enhance our lives. How sad when municipalities ban dogs from public nature-space. Many apartment dwellers who canB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t have dogs at home enjoy watching other folksB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ dogs at play.
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Dogs too need nature, trees, parks and beaches in order to be healthy, and humans need animals for emotional well-being. Both pets and wildlife enhance our lives. How sad when municipalities ban dogs from public nature-space. Many apartment dwellers who canB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t have dogs at home enjoy watching other folksB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ dogs at play.

Ballad of the Banned Dog

If you go down to the beach today youB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™re in for disappointments. If you like dogs and watching them play, youB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ll notice a sudden absence.

You might see frisbees, herons and crabs and bodies stretched out on sand, youB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ll see toned thighs and shoulders and abs, but poodles and bulldogs are banned. YouB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ll see the gosling, goose and gander but no gaggle of dogs in a row, or jumping the logs or rolling in sand or giving the human walkers a show.

How we miss the spaniel, beagle and terrier at places they leapt and bounded, the stretches of sand used to be merrier, now itB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s the dogs being chased and hounded.

Folks bring drinks and picnics on a tray and wade where the fish make schools, but the cheerful pups have been washed away on a tide of bureaucratic rules.

Flora Jardine

Saanich



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